Happy Friday everybody, I don't know about you, but I'm ready for the weekend.

Thanks as always to my wonderful beta, Brie, and to each of you who continue to read, review, and those who continue to add this to your favorites! Love you all.

I did a slight title change since it's not really a redo, but an expansion of the one-shot with some changes.

Whelp, on with the chapter…Enjoy!

Chapter Ten – Cool Runnings

"That's one thing about Hollywood' people don't always want what's real. People always want a little more. So for me it's a compromise. Here you go, that's hyper-reality."

-Paul Walker

It was a strange feeling, when someone showed absolutely no recognition at your name. In Hollywood, I was royalty, but here, in most wonderful place of all, I was nobody except the girl Edward had fallen in love with.

The last thing I wanted him to think was that I was exactly like how I was portrayed by the media.

I didn't want to talk about where I came from yet, but I couldn't risk waiting and having everything blow up in my face by not being honest with him. I decided that I wanted to see if this could really be that whole, 'can't eat, can't sleep, reach for the moon kind of love' that Hollywood's romantic comedies make us fantasized about, I had to take a leap of faith and trust in Edward and the possibility of us. That meant laying it all on the line with him.

Unlike when I told him about Jasper, he had lots of questions about this.

His first one was pretty simple. "What brought you to our little neck of the woods?"

I told him the whole truth, including names this time, about my life. He knew who my father was, and my mother, too, but since he hadn't followed the gossip rags or syndicated entertainment news, I was a virtual stranger to him.

I gave him more details about my childhood. I told him about the movies I'd been force to star in and the details of how exactly Jasper came into my life. I shared with him the conflict that arose with my adopted siblings and how I hadn't even spoken to Emily in over a year. I told him about Emmett and the struggles we had to overcome if we hoped to ever have any chance of a 'normal' familial bond.

When I mentioned Rose, I smiled. She was a bright spot in my life, but since Jasper and I weren't talking right now, she'd cut me out of her life as well. I was sad that she didn't take the time to ask me about it before she abandoned me, but I guessed Jasper was the icing on the Emmett cake.

"If it weren't for the little bit of time I spent with your brother and father, you would be the only person I've really had a conversation with since I arrived. How sad is that?" I asked rhetorically. "That's the thing I hate most about Hollywood: the isolation. It's why my writing has been so essential to the person I am. I can fall into the world of make-believe and make people meet, talk, fight, fall in love, fuck, and die all in one fell swoop. It really quite insane, if you think about it; I basically make a living talking to myself."

"I don't think you're insane. A little crazy, sure, but that just makes you so much more adorable," he said before tickling my sides and causing me to freeze.

No one had tickled me since Jazz. I didn't want to cry about him anymore; he'd made the choice to cut me out when I didn't tell him I loved him back in the same way he thought he did.

He stopped the second he realized I frozen in my spot. "What's wrong?"

So I told him since I was riding the honesty train as it was.

"The way he cut you out was really shitty and left you with no closure. I think you need to call him or maybe write him a letter. That way you at least can move on from it if he doesn't respond."

"Maybe." It seemed to be my go-to answer for everything these days.

"Sure, you'll still have to work together, but after this year is up and if things haven't changed, you can look for new representation, right?" he asked, and I nodded.

It wouldn't be the ideal situation, but it couldn't be any worse than dealing with Renée.

He changed the topic and told me his sister, Alice, would most likely recognize me immediately since she was obsessed with beauty, fashion, and all things Hollywood. He said she would probably squeal when we met. I groaned internally at the thought.

Soon, the conversation quieted down. We cuddled together on the couch with the quilt tucked in around us. My head rested on his chest and the musical sound of his heartbeat eventually lulled me to sleep

~SCaSL~

I woke up alone in my bed the next morning and I was surprisingly disappointed not to find him in bed with me. I got up and puttered around in the bathroom before I went into the kitchen for coffee. There in front of the freshly brew pot was a note.

Bella Marie,

You looked so beautiful as you slept that it would have been a grave injustice if I had awoken you before I left. I'll be busy with resort things most of the day, but I promise to make it up to you tonight if you'll let me. I took the liberty to program my number into your phone―I hope you don't mind.

Please think about what we talked about last night and talk to Jasper. I really think it would help ease your mind.

Until later.

I love you,

E.

P.S. - Look after my heart, I've left it with you.

I reread his note four times before I danced around the kitchen like a freshman girl who just got asked to the prom by the senior boy she had a crush on. I had never been this type of girl, the one to swoon over a man, but Edward did that to me. He made me think that maybe, just maybe, I was worthy of his love and that maybe, just maybe, I could love him in return.

I didn't have a case of the Mondays, I had a case of the maybes and I was thrilled about it.

I decided to take Edward's advice. I wasn't ready for my mood to be crushed, so I settled on sending him an email. Jasper had to check his email for work every day; hell, he checked it every hour, so there was no way he wouldn't see it.

He may not read it, but I'll know I sent it and that there wasn't any true malicious intent in the letter. I took a deep breath, opened my email, and wrote him.

To: Jasper Whitlock

Subject: I Miss You

My dearest Jasper,

I miss you.

I miss my friend and my confidant.

I miss talking to you and telling you about my day after you've told me about yours. I miss the camaraderie that we've share every single day for the past thirteen years. I miss having the only person who ever truly understood me just down the hall.

You've been a huge part of my life, the most important years so far, and I don't want our friendship to end this way because I can't return the feelings you think you have. I'm an easy choice. We lived together, I cooked for you, and I know we essentially live in a common law marriage, but we dated other people.

I'm sorry that I hurt you. I'm sorry that I couldn't return the feeling you believe you have for me. Never in my lifetime would I ever set out to hurt you. Believe me, a few years ago, I would have tried to make a go of us. I would have loved you and married you if you'd asked, but it would have been us just settling. That's something I could never allow you to do.

You deserve to have a woman worship you and love you with her whole heart. To see you as her missing puzzle piece. To believe in you and support you through all of life's trials and tribulations.

I've only ever been a few of those and you know it.

I know this will be hard to hear, but I've met someone. It's not a rebound. It's really new and we're taking it really slow, but he encouraged me to reach out to you and let you know how I am feeling. To tell you how much you have meant to me. I wouldn't say I'm in love with him yet, since we only just met a couple of weeks ago, but he knows who I am now, and I do mean the real me―the me you know. He makes me feel things that I didn't know I was capable of ever feeling, and most importantly, now that I know what it feels like, I want that for you, too. It's like the beginning of a love that could consume me.

I haven't told you this to hurt you, please believe me, but I just can't walk away from our friendship without a fight. These past six weeks have been so torturous without you to share these defining moments with. I can't let the past thirteen years go without even trying to tell you how much you've meant to me.

I never would have had the courage to submit that first screenplay without you. I know each award and recognition I've received would never have happened without you because I was too scared to take that first step without you pushing me to take a leap of faith. Every break-up I went through, you were there for me, supporting me, and convincing me I was lovable just the way I was.

You are too, you know. You are so lovable. You're passionate about things in a way I was never going to be capable of. You're a people person and they're drawn to your charisma and positive outlook on life.

God knows I was. I still am.

I don't want you to walk out of life, but I can't make you stay if you don't want to. The ball is in your court. Do as you must.

Always,

Iz

I re-read the letter one more time before hitting send. It was the hardest letter I'd ever had to write. I hoped and prayed it wasn't the end for us, but only Jasper could make that decision.

I was extremely grateful for Edward encouraging me to reach out to Jazz. He'd been able to see it in my face how much I missed him when we talked about the past. Jasper was so ingrained in mine that it was impossible to not talk about him. The thing that I liked most about Edward was his ability to almost read my mind. He knew what I was thinking before I even spoke and told me what he thought, whether I wanted to hear it or not.

The only thing I could do now was wait and hope to hear from Jasper.

~SCaSL~

March flew by and April was well underway with all the time I'd spent with Edward snowmobiling. I loved sitting behind him as he raced around the lake and through the surrounding forest. I loved having my arms wrapped around him while he drove.

On a few occasions we switched places so he could teach me how to drive. I tried really hard to focus on the instructions he was giving, but I couldn't. Even through our thick winter clothes, when his fingers squeezed at my waist or when they glided over my hands trying to teach me how to control the throttle, I'd zone out, unable to focus on anything other than his touch. There was a constant want and need that burned in me when he was around that made my concentration disappear.

Finally, though, we gave up and had Seth take over the lessons while Edward sat on the sidelines and watched. It only took three tries before I was comfortable handling the machine on my own, at least on a flat surface. My normal inability to easily find my center of gravity made it impossible me to master any of the extreme sports aspects of their capabilities. I was okay with that though because riding tandem with Edward was better than learning how to drive myself.

One day, after we came back from a late afternoon ride, we sat alone in the reading room of the chalet, sipping on hot caramel apple cider. We had spent so much time talking about my life that I wanted to learn more about him.

That was how I came to learn about his life in the military and it really explained why he could be so out of the loop when it came to celebrity news.

"I actually haven't been back here for very long; only about a year and a half. Before that I was Navy SEAL Commander. I was honorably discharged after fourteen years of service when I was injured on the job," he said proudly.

"So if you hadn't been injured you'd still be serving?" I asked, in awe of the man before me.

"Yes. The Navy was my life. As a young boy, I used to visit my grandfather, who had us call him Admiral, during summers as a child. He'd always tell me stories about his thirty-plus years of service. I'd sit and listen to his lavish stories about heroism and honor, and it made me want to be just like him.

"When I was thirteen, I asked to enroll in military school. My parents were both proud and outraged by my choice. We fought about it the entire summer before I finally call up the Admiral and told him of my desire. He came here with the commander of the school close to him in Chicago, and together they were able to convince my parents to allow me the opportunity to fulfill my dreams."

"Wow. I'm impressed with the desire you had so early in life. Why did your parents not want to support you hopes, then?" I was completely enamored with him.

"My father hated all the moving he did throughout his life because of his father's career. He hated the military life, and once he was old enough to leave, he did. In college, he met my mother and as they say, the rest is history. When they had kids, they always encouraged us to be individuals because he wasn't given the option. He hated the military academies he attended. He didn't support the idea of war being the only answer.

"My mother was worried about the possibilities of losing her 'baby boy'." He rolled his eyes when he said that, and I smiled. "She knew I had been charmed by the stories I heard, but she knew that if I followed this path, I may never come home. That scared her, and I understood that, but I wanted to stand and help defend our country."

"It's noble what you did, and selfless, too, but I would have been just as worried as your mother was. Do you miss it?"

"Yes and no," he said before he elaborated more. "Yes, because I was depressed when I first got out and also because it wasn't my choice to leave in the first place. It took most of the first year back for me to get re-acclimated to being here since the Navy was all I knew. I'd spent so much time traveling and seeing other parts of the world that being in one place permanently was an adjustment. But not anymore because I missed my family. I only saw them when I was on leave, and that wasn't very often. My assignments kept me from some really important milestones with in my family. Now I get to be a part of the family dynamic in a way that allows me to still explore and be out and about. Besides, if I was still overseas, I would have missed the opportunity to meet you, and that would have been a travesty."

He had an incredible ability to make me speechless. I even swooned a little.

He didn't go into detail about what he did as a seal, but I could sense that it was because what he was top secret and not because he didn't want to tell me.

I could picture him in fatigues―sweaty, full beard, covered in dirt. Or maybe clean shaven in his full dress, white uniform, and medals, if he had them. I bet he looked yummy in them.

"I know what you're thinking about," he said, startling me from my daydream.

I blushed, totally busted on my train of thought. "Oh yeah? And just what was I thinking about?"

"You were just picturing me in my uniform."

Oh hell yes I was. "I bet you looked magnificent in your uniform."

He smirked at me. "Maybe I'll let you see me in it one day."

And maybe one day, I'll strip you right out of it.

Although I wasn't anywhere near ready, it didn't mean that I hadn't thought about sex with him.

I really couldn't wait to see him in that uniform.

~SCaSL~

In the time I had spent with Edward, I had been hit with inspiration for a new screenplay. It was unlike anything I'd ever done before but the new plot developed quickly and I had just finished the final draft earlier in the week.

The original script I was been working on when I first arrived had long been put on hold, and the romantic comedy I'd just completed crept up in its place. I called it The Swine Princess. It was a total deviation from my traditional dramas and period pieces, but it fit the mood I was in now: happy.

It was about a socialite stuck in Kansas during a blizzard, gets rescued by a pig farmer, and ends up falling in love with her rescuer. It was like Clueless meets Son in Law. I laughed my ass off the whole time I read back through it. It wasn't Oscar worthy, but Hilary Duff would be perfect for the lead character and ABC Family would eat it up.

I had been at the resort for almost seven weeks now and it had been over two weeks since I sent Jasper the email with no reply back―not even a work email. I was ready to kiss our entire friendship good-bye because he had basically written me off. But for now, I sent off another email, and this one was strictly work related. There were no sweet, kind words being share between childhood friends, only the encrypted attachment that housed my screenplay.

Otherwise, life in Hollywood continued to slowly drift away, like leaves on a tree in the autumn and the ice on the lake melting as spring began. My dependency on Jasper was nonexistent except for business, and even that was minimal. I began to trust more in myself and the relationship that Edward and I were building began to grow stronger. When we weren't working, we were together.

With the nearest big city, Bend, being over one hundred miles away, Edward and I spent most of our time getting to know each other within the resort. Earlier today we went snowshoeing on the Pacific Coast Trail. It was an experience, for sure.

Edward laughed as I huffed and puffed way down the path next to him. I wasn't used to the wider stance of walking and looked like a penguin as I took each of the short steps. It had been a warmer day and peaked at forty-seven degrees while we were on our walk.

He was a patient instructor though, and stuck to more level land when possible. It took time before I was used to the cleat-like sound they made when we moved. I had a couple near falls, but Edward was always close by to rescue me.

We didn't get into too deep of a conversation while we hiked, but I was okay with that. By the time we were back to my cabin, I was out of breath and sweating more than I ever did in a Zumba class. Edward told me to take a hot shower and then to stretch my muscles out. I had used muscles today I didn't even know I had.

I even took some Ibuprofen to help with the pain I knew I'd be in before I showered. Then I laid down for a nap. I wanted to be well rested for his plans tonight.

All I had known was that we were having a private dinner in the teaching kitchen where I'd met Carlisle. I didn't know exactly what Edward had planned, but I was sure it'd be fun.

I awoke feeling refreshed and only a little sore. I put on a heather gray sweater dress and black leggings, leaving my hair in its natural waves.

When I was almost finished getting ready, my phone rang. I didn't stop to see who it was, I just assumed it was Edward; after all, he was the only one who had been calling me for the past four weeks.

"Hello, Edward," I said as I finished applying my mascara in the mirror.

"Uh, it's Jasper."

Another Cliffhanger…I'm such a tease. I promise they all don't end this way…I think. I'd love to hear from you and tease you back. ;o)